destination. the birth control debate, supreme court taking up another challenge to obama care. should employers be forced to provide birth control to employees? the debate is already raging. your "new day" starts right now. good morning. it is wednesday, november 27, 6:00 in the east. and we hope you have many reasons to be thankful this holiday season, but the weather ain't one of them. a massive nor'easter on about as heavy a travel day as we have the day before thanksgiving. just take a look at the size of the storm. it's stretching from georgia all the way up to maine and is expected to get worse before it gets better. >> we're talking several major airport hubs including new york city, the new york city area, all in the path of the storm. from the mid-atlantic all the way to new england, some of the nation's most heavily traveled highways are also in harm's way.

you're about to experience the power and reach of cnn flexing our muscles. we're covering the massive storm and how it could impact your travel in the air, by rail and on the roads. our coverage begins with endra pet peterson in pittsburgh. >> reporter: i made it here safely, but i want to give you a look at the conditions. you can see the icy conditions this morning. and heading in through pittsburgh, you can see the snow is fall. we've seen several inches already just this morning. even about 3, 4 inches yesterday. and unfortunately for all the travelers trying to get out ahead of the storm, today looks like even more dicey conditions are in the forecast. a massive and powerful nor'easter pummeled the northeast overnight bringing heavy snow and rain and causing dangerous icy road.

satellite images captured the storm at one point stretching from florida to nova scotia, a storm effecting more than 43 million travelers as they braef the elements to be with loved ones this thanksgiving. here in atlanta, steady rain is causing some head akts. the roads are wet, shrek and causing problems for the afternoon commute. >> reporter: snow has already blanketed parts of the midwest. in wisconsin, crews scrambled to keep up with the icy roadways. >> there is a point where there is nothing you can do. it's just glare ice. >> reporter: the north easter already blamed for scores of accidents and at least a dozen deaths. >> we're here at irwin, pennsylvania outside of pittsburgh. this region could see between 5 and 9 inches of snow. a transportation official tells me about 135 crews will be out in force in over 80 trucks trying to battle this. >> reporter: in arkansas, freezing rain led to this 12 car

pileup. >> get on the highway, next thing i know, i'm spinning. >> reporter: and up to a foot is possible this western parts of new york and northwest pennsylvania. meanwhile winds are expected to intensify over the northeast into thanksgiving morning. those winds leaving the fate of the macy's thanksgiving day parade up in the air. we're now in the toughest time here of the weather system. we knew it would be the early morning hours where we're seeing the strongest rain moving in, heavier snow starting to fall and the winds picking up, so it looks like dicier conditions especially at the airports this morning. >> all right. thank you for being out there exposed for us. we do know that thousands of families will be forced to rethink their thanksgiving travel plans and that's just the way it is. the warning from new york state police, prepare for the worst. why? first snowstorm of the season is battering the region and may be worse than expected. let's bring in george howell, he's outside buffalo, new york. buffalo is one of the snowiest cities in the country. george, thanks for being out there. i hope you have family or

friends in the area, pal, because it will be tough to get out of there. >> reporter: yeah, chris, here is the thing. you talk to any grizzled buffalo resident who knows the snow, they say this is no big deal. but you this area got substantial snowfall if you take a look here. i mean, that's anywhere from, what, i don't know, 3 to 4 inches of snow. a lot of snow that fell. and when you look out at the roads, that's the big concern. the type of snow we're looking at, it's sort of a wet heavy they can snow. slushy on the roads. however, we have seen the plows out, the city of buffalo has anywhere from 25 to 30 plows, they are making sure the roads are clear and safe for travel. and that's the thing. especially for people who are not accustomed to this weather who may be traveling through the region. >> all right, george, thanks so much. keep an eye on it. and if you're traveling by air, many of you are seeing us in the airport right now, you probably already know this. brace yourself. flights are already being canceled because of the weather. and the dominos could start

falling if more flights are grounded at major hubs in new york and philadelphia. take a look at all of the flights in the air right now. more than 3,000 planes over the united states. but so far, more than 100 flights are canceled and that number expected to get worse as the morning progresses. rene marsh is at reagan national airport outside washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. you know, foot traffic is picking up here at reagan national airport, but it's all about this, it's all about these screens here. this is what everyone will be locked on. it the flight on time, delayed, canceled. looks good now, but later on today, we expect these feeds to light up. >> at the end of the day, no one can control mother that. >> reporter: the ripple effect of the nasty nor'easter causing problems into the night for air travelers. the timing and shear size of the storm could not be worse. >> a storm this large throughout the east coast is going to have some effect on the flight system. >> reporter: with just hours

before thanksgiving, delays and cancellations adding up quickly as the storm pull he wills some of the nation's busiest airports. on average, one in ten flights go through new york airports. >> with 80% of our airplanes touching the congested northeast, we're acutely aware things can go wrong. >> reporter: some flights circled armirports in the southn tuesday up they could land. low clouds and heavy rain delaying one in three fleets taking off from hartsfield jackson international airport, the world's busiest. >> the weather here delayed our flight. >> reporter: some deciding to change their plans in hopes of beating the storm. >> i was very happy i booked the day i did because if i booked tomorrow, probably get delayed. >> reporter: the peterson family planned on driving from north virginia to massachusetts, but changed their minds after seeing the forecast. they got a last minute flight instead. >> it was painful. we could have gone to the bahamas for a lot less i think. >> reporter: mother nature

doesn't always cooperate with a great thanksgiving escape. once we get through today, forecasters and travelers alike look ahead to sunday, the busiest travel day of the year. so we just saw a delay pop up here at reagan national. we can tell you nationwide there are roughly about 150 delays as we speak. that number is pretty low now. we expect that number will definitely go up. just as far as specific airports, most delays we're seeing is at charlotte, hartsfield in atlanta and o'hare. the most cancellations that we're seeing is boston logan, newark and laguardia. back to you. >> thank you very much. this is one of those stories, very few, where i really hope we're wrong about what we're saying. i hope that they figure out how to handle it. but many of you are in the airports, watching us, but it's airports, other hubs are already filling up with people getting hit with a delay. inside penn station, one of the

massive hubs here in new york city, you can see travelers gathering in what hopefully will not become the board of broken dreams. so far this storm is more of an annoyance. no reporting of any significant problems yet. we'll keep track of all the different routes for the many families who are trying to get to loved ones. and there is a lot of news you need to be aware of in the wo , world, as well. >> good morning. here is what is making news this morning. syria announcing it will send a delegation to geneva in january for peace talks. the goal, to bring an end to that country's bloody civil war. but damascus is rejecting calls for president assad to remove himself from the process. opposition is leaders haven't decided whether they will participate vowing to keep fighting government forces whether the talks take place or not. a scene of horror discovered

inside a family home in arizona. three sisters were imprisoned for two years separated from one another, kept in filthy conditions and fed only once a day. those girls ages 12, 13 and 17 were rescued after two of them ran to a neighbor's house. police said the girl's mother and stepfather have now been charged with child abuse. no new trial for o.j. simpson. a nevada judge upholding his 2007 connection for armed robbery and kidnapping in a case involving sports memorabilia dealers. the judge rejected simpson's claim that he was misrepresented by his original attorney and didn't get a fair trial. so he'll remain in a nevada prison where he's serving up to 33 years. he is not eligible for parole for four more years. students at prinesenc princ university for a meningitis

vaccine. it's battling a straen train of disease that can be life threatening. it is an annual tradition.s disease that can be life threatening. it is an annual tradition. today president obama par pardo pair of turkeys. their names, caramel and popcorn. they will have a chance to be spared and live out the rest of their lives in retirement at mt. vernon. after the ceremony, the community service event. >> they do make funny noises. what are their names again? >> reed and mcconnell? >> caramel and popcorn. >> do you think it's right to name them after food? tweet #new day, should their names be reed and hk cid and mc. >> or what should they be. coming up, pope francis

released an 84 page manifesto. what is in there? will the church really tackle some of the big issues? we'll explain why the pope is calling for a church that is bruised, hurting and dirty. >> and how are the freeways shaping up? here is a live shot of the highways right outside new york. our panel on the ground will be along the i-95 corridor to tell us what to expect. [ male announcer ] this is jim,

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no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. welcome back to "new day". pope francis putting out a new play book of sorts calling for major changes in the roman catholic church starting at the top. let us unpack the significance of what the pope wrote. we have sister campbell, thank you for joining us, and father

dwyer. thank you to your both. an early thanksgiving to you both. so let's start with the headline. father, i'll start with you because you're closest to us. what do you see and hear that should be exciting in the true meaning of change? >> i think playbook is an excellent word to use. people have been asking about this title of the document. parallel to not coming out with some sort of new you doctrine or dogma, he is not proclaiming something we all need now to believe, but like a coach at halftime, he's not changing the play, he's giving us a pep talk and saying if we're really christians, this is how we need to live. >> and sister, i want to get your take on what you see in this document. because people are calling it significant and big change, but there are some significant things that aren't changing, not changing the church's position on hoe knmosexualhomosexuality, women in the priesthood. what does this document do for women, i think? >> for women what it does is

that it moves more into specifics of where we may get engaged and where the church can open up. i really appreciate that pope francis is saying the church, too, needs to be converted and that we all need to change. and part of that change is giving women a place of authority, of responsibility, of inclusion in the decisions that are made. but what he does is in the context of the broader world that the church needs to reach out to all of the world whether they are ban sized catholics or not, but to welcome all in. and this is to be done in the spirit of joy, which is a big change in attitude. >> but it's interesting, father, the holy father wrote the male only priesthood is not a question open to discussion. so talking about the overall role that women should be having in the church, correct? >> he was notably critical of many of the church -- not only the church structures, but the culture. he mentions clericalism, meaning

it's only the priest who get to do power or authority and he specifically criticized saying we're supposed to be servants. the vast majority of the church are laypeople and we who are clerics are here to serve and so if we get into the mind set of power or authority or nice positions, he said then the church turns into a museum. the joy of the gospel is not to be kept from anyone he says. >> fair criticism that the pope at this point is getting more credit for what he says about attitude than what he does let's say for rectitude, behaviors and what is morally responsible in the church. so your ministry has catered to the church and its application here specifically. so sinners like me, i'm in your wheel house, father, what do i read in here that shows us advancement, that shows they're addressing the things? okay, not women in the priesthood, but what about married priests. why aren't these things touched in something that is 84 pages long? >> one of the things that he says that begins to open up where we are for instance, he

says i need to address the issue of decentralization he called it. neither pope john paul ii or benedict xvi put out a papal that says let's centralize. pope francis is saying not every decision needs to happen in the culture of vatican city. we need to give more power and authority like we would call state's rights as opposed to the federal government. >> and one big issue, sister, is that he really took on was economic enequality and really in the world. he used one thing that is getting picked up a lot is one phrase that is really politically charged here in the u.s., you know, trickle down economics. why do you think he used that phrase number one and what do you make of this message? >> i think what he's being very clear about is that the church's role is to be in the world and that the role of catholics and christians is to live in the

world engaged in poverty. and he's here that trickle down economics does not work. and being from argentina, he experienced the failure of trickle down. he also says at the heart of our social ills is income and wealth disparity. the inequality that exists. and he says that it's the state's role, the state has a key role in helping to change that inequality and they must step up to address the ills of our time. it's a very exciting document. the folks on capitol hill really need to read it. it also says that the state must govern and find common solutions for ways forward. this idea of gridlock on capitol hill is really contrary to what the pope is speaking about. >> do you think -- people are fascinated by the pope and this document says quite a lot. but are catholics going to notice anything significantly different today than they did yesterday? >> probably not in a day. but this is like a vision

statement, strategic plan, if you will, to borrow a turn for the next five years or so. he's talking about being joyful and sharing. so i hope they notice that we're not all sour pusses. >> it's been well received by catholics and noncatholics. what is interesting to me, at contact on capitalism is not new for the catholic church. what i want to know is do you think the pope is going to take a step and started a vow creating for these policies in the realm of politics? do you think he'll start sending a message to orders like your own and say you have to get out there and you have to start telling the faithful that these types of politicians do not represent -- that's been a big step for the church. >> he certainly is saying we need to get out there. we need to stop being inside the doors of the church. we need to be in society, in

culture and in politics. s . >> sister, what do you think about this final point in the pope had been receiving analysis from political figures. oh, he seems kind of liberal, i wonder what this means. do you think that there is some anticipation that this pope may be putting out messages that have specific political vent? >> i think he's putting out messages that the gospel calls us to care for those at the margins of our society and we're failing our society. he points out the social ills that are corrupting our establishment exist worldwide. lack of hope, individualism, he points out is wrong and that we are community. he's calling us to come together and solve the problems apsz the gospel gives us the tools on do it. i think that is a great amount of hope for every. >> one of my sound booites is h

says the poor are still waiting. >> as sister said earlier, she hopes this document is read by those down in washington. i don't know who needs to hear it more right now. happy thanksgiving to both of you again. >> thank you. coming up next, obama care supposed to be up and running for most users in the next few days. but attention is being diverted again as a key part of the law could be struck down by the supreme court. they will at least take it up to consider it. so are americans calling the law a failure? new poll numbers to tell you about. and you know about the football concussion crisis. is the league doing all that it can for the players? cnn polled the people. we reveal surprising results. and we're also keeping a close eye of course on all the different ways to get home. we know that it is a desperate situation. we will tell you where the storm is headed and hopefully divine intervention is not necessary to get you where you need to be. stay with us.

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time for a political gut check of the morning. obama care is heading back to the supreme court. the justices agreed to review another part of the health care law. we're just days away from the he said of the mopd when tig of ths supposed to be fixed and 58% oppose the new law. but there is more to it. john king is here to break it down for us. so you have 58% in the latest cnn orc poll saying they oppose

the law. 40% say they favor it. that seems status quo really over the same opposition that the law has faced over the same few months. break down the numbers for us. >> the breakdown is very critical because you will hear some republicans that say nearly 6 in 10 americans oppose the health care law. it's a disaster, we have to get rid of it. look for republicans to say that. but most of them will probably leave out the key asterisk. if you look at the on that option, 14% opposed because they think it's not liberal enough, these who wanted a single payor system. those people on the left probably saying to president obama i told you so, you went with a market based system that is very complicated. should you have let the government take over the entire thing. so this is one of the numbers. a lot of volatile, but this one pretty standard in the breakdown of people who opposed law.a lot pretty standard in the breakdown of people who opposed law.

>> it seems very clear from these poll numbers that the democrats are losing the war of the explanation of obama care. they're losing the war of words. the problem with that is a lot of the reason that they're losing is because of the fear of the unknown. tell me i don your take on that. how much legit push back is, yes, the rollout stinks, but the predictions are all negative that are hard to substantiate. >> that's the argument the president is trying to make, blame me, we blew the rollout, but have patience, you'll like the plan. and unlike most politicians in washington, the american people seem to have an open mind. will problems facing health care law eventually be solved? yes, 54%. no, 45%. so there is an open meeind amon the public. so if you're the white house, you're thinking that is a tough verdict for the american people and yet again, they're pretty

open minded. the president blew it, let's see if he can get it right. a majority there 54%. so a potential silver lining here. if they get it right, there is a potential silver lining that they can say, okay, learned our lesson. >> and also the top line polls we were talking about, the fact they stayed steady is that also kind of seen as good news for the administration that despite the negative headline after negative headline and the botched rollout, the support, they haven't lost more support. >> i would say it's less bad news for the administration. not so much good news. we talked a bet about this yesterday when you saw the swing in our poll numbers about who people favor when they're thinking about voting for congress next year. history tells you next year is a tough one for the president. the recovery is not as strong as they would like. people are concerned. in the sixth year of a two year administration, party and power

almost always lose seats. so this is one potential silver lining. there are still a lot of things the president needs to do. normal political environment is bad for the democrats next year, they need apabnormal political environment where people get mad again at the republicans like they were after the shutdown. so the president's biggest hope is that he gets obama care right, they fix the problems, people feel better about it next spring and that somehow the republicans give help some other medical opening to stage a rebound. >> want to get your take on the politics of the fact the supreme court has decided to take up another part of the health care law, but also the fact that the president as he was making his swing through the west coast over the past few days, you really have seen a change in his tone. it seemed that he's done apologizing and he's now going back on offense in terms of obama care in general. the fact that he's trying to show the benefits of the law instead of just saying we're sorry for a bad rollout.

>> and playing to the key pieces of the democratic cop statistic insi constituency, talking to lower income people, this this will be great for your family. most women make the economic decisions. including health care decisions. the president saying you'll like this, don't listen to the republicans, this is better for your family and eventually he's making the case for your finances. for the supreme court question, it adds some unpredict ability, no question about that. this question is whether the government can tell religious based institutions you must put in your policies whether contraception or some kind of family planning, it's a mandate. the question is does the supreme court take it narrowly and address the question of religious institutions or does it take the question and get more broadly into the powers of the federal government to tell people what to do. anytime something comes before the supreme court, if it's yours and you like it, you get a little nervous they might change it. >> a good point. and we know democrats won on the issue at least temporarily on

the war on women message and that will be definitely playing into this the end of next june. >> new wrinkle is that corporations are saying should they be considered persons, which is a legalees term. we'll explain that a little bit more later on in the show. but john, appreciate it. happy early thanksgiving to you. >> same to you. we're both thankful to have john king in our lives. >> we are. #thankful for john. and also michaela. our top story is the weather and we don't want to put a damper on your holiday plans, but the fact is it could mean slow torture for thanksgiving travelers. a massive nor'easter disrupting flights and icing over highways all along the east coast. heavy snow in ohio, pennsylvania, and upstate new york forcing families to rethink some of their thanksgiving plans. fierce winds are in the forecast

for today. and for tomorrow. that mean it is could threaten the macy's thanksgiving day parade. we'll keep you updated. parts of storm ravaged illinois have been declared a major disaster. two dozen tornadoes ripped through the region last week killing six people there and injuring over 100 more. fema officials have been on the ground surveying the damage and additional areas could be designated for assistance after assessments are complete. in an about face, an army officer's dropped a planned evil twin defense and pleaded guilty to a series of zek assaults. he had intended to blame his identical twin brother for then alleged sex crimes, but his attorney says his client wanted to do the right thing. colorado prosecutors say there is no evidence depends his brother. lucas faces 20 years to life in prison. he will be sentenced in february. a connecticut judge has

ordered the release of 911 calls from the sandy hook elementary school massacre, 20 first graders and 6 school staffers were shot to death there last december. the judge called the tapes, quote, a searing reminder of the more or and pain of that day. but he said they must go public. the state attorney is appealing. residents, though, of newtown do have a little something to cheer for this morning. the newtown high school football team wrapped up their season with a perfect 12-0 record tuesday. earlier this year, the team wore green uniforms, the school color of sandy hook elementary, and on their helmets tuesday, the number 26 worn in honor of those who were killed. perfect tribute. >> important to that community to remember this in a number of ways going forward. >> and important to celebrate those moments, too, and not let

that define them. coming up next on "new day," dozens of flights already canceled or delayed on this very busy holiday getaway day. we're monitoring the massive nor'easter. look at that flight map. stay with us as we all try to avoid getting strappnded at the airport. and is the nfl doing enough to protect its players from concussions? no, because they keep getting they will. but what do you think? we polled the people and wait until you see the results in this cnn poll.

welcome back. 43 million people are trying to get home to their families. but the nor'easter is making it a challenge to get anywhere on this one of the busiest travel days of the year. so we'll cover the situation for

you as best we can. we have pamela brown on i-95 eyeing the latest weather track. we have indra peterson. so let's begin with indra, she's in coraopolis, pennsylvania. >> reporter: you can see a couple inches of snow just overnight. and i want to show what you is behind me. this is what so many travelers will be having to deal with today. just take a look at the highways. the slick roads are out there. and we mentioned this is only going to be the toughest time of this entire storm period this morning. so all those travelers that are trying to get out ahead of the storm, they will be dealing with the heaviest rain and the heaviest snow. take a look at the radar, you can see how many millions will be empaimpacted by this. if you're close r to the coastline, you're seeing the heavy rain. on the back side of it, we're

seeing the snow. at times it's coming down pretty good out there. even ohio they got 6 to 8 inches of snow. just north of us here, already 10 inches of snow. and more of it is on the way. this low is actually still creeping up to the north. so slowly making its way up to the north meaning only more problems will be out there. let's talk about what we're expecting. even 2 to 4 inches of heavy rain is still possible. remember, it's not just the rain or snow, either eat the visibility issues that come along with it. flying to pittsburgh yesterday, we didn't see the run way owing until literally the wheels touched down. so 2 to 4 inches of rain even farther down to the south. and again on the back side around the lakes, we could still see a good foot of snow. and even through kentucky and tennessee, tapering down to several inches of snow still in the forecast today. now, remember, as we go through the morning hours, it's the heaviest rain and heaviest snow and the strongest winds. now, this will start to taper off as far as precipitation goes during the day, but the winds,

high wind warnings still currently already in through new england, we're talking about winds as high as 60 miles per hour. we know what that means. travel delays. >> keep an eye on it. thank you very much. let's talk about road conditions. most travelers will be slogging through a wintry mess, snow, sleet and rain leading to dangerous conditions. the storm system already causing many accidents in the midwest, some fatal. drivers up and down the east coast are facing the very same dangers. pamela brown is on the road 287 south with much more. >> reporter: we've been on the road for just about an hour now. it's pretty quiet. the volume hasn't picked up so far, but we have seen the conditions, the rain intermittent, and we've seen a lot of pooling and puddles on the roads. and of course you can imagine that will slow traffic down as

americans hit the roads on this busiest travel day of the year. let's take a look here, you can see it's not too bad right now. but as the morning goes on and we expect the traffic to pick up and also the rain to pick up. so that could cause some issues. it could be a recipe for disaster. the further west, you could see snow, you could see black heicen the roads. the roads will be clogged with car, conditions are expected to pick up. it is still early and just the beginning here. of course we'll keep you updated on the situation out here as the morning goes on. >> all right. pame pamela, thank you. she has the minute to minute update on how the road conditions are. >> pamela brown's job is let early to find bad traffic. can you imagine that? talk about dedication. >> if you see her car, a void it. >> lucky she's not driving. and what is that big risk in the wintry mix because it will affect the roads and certainly flights all up and down the coast and probably beyond.

so we have christine live at the magic wall keeping an eye on where the air is hurting us the most. >> it's right here, but that will have a ripple effect across the country. this is a live map from plane finder.net. this is right now what we're seeing in the country. you can see how crowded it is. the orange planes are your commercial flights. red, that's cargo planes. there are 1463 flights right now in the air over the united states. this is the misery map. it is from flightaware.com. just shows you how miserable it is depending on where you are and the focus right now, new york city as we're waking up, these airports, based on delays and cancellations, jfk is the worst. newark with eight cancellations. on down the list. one thing to remember, call the airline, check your flight status before you you leave the house.

these things are changing pretty frequently. leave plenty of time for travel to the airport. remember there will be lines at the airport. please be patient. don't wait too long to get to the airport in case something changes and your flight might take off. and pack your patience and pack a snack because it will be a tough long day. >> pack your patience. things that are impossible to do for 500. >> doesn't matter how big my bag is. >> how about stay that. >> there you go. coming up next on "new day," the concussion crisis is one of our country's most -- in one of our country's most beloved sports. is the nfl doing all it can when it comes to players' safety. results of a poll on the subject may surprise you. plus prince william is living on a prayer with bon jovi and taylor swift. the musical performance you just can't miss. a subaru...

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let's go around the world starting above the east china sea. two unarmed warplanes on a training mission fly over a chain of islands. >> reporter: china announceds it is sending an aircraft carrier into the south china sea just as the u.s. sent two b-52 aircraft into a newly declared chinese air exclusion zone. beijing had demanded that all aircraft entering the zone declare flight plans and all of their flight data.

the u.s. declined to do that. the b-52s returned to guam from the training mission without incident, but u.s. officials are telling me expect to see more of these u.s. flights in the coming days. back to you. >> all right, barbara, thank you very much. and a star-studded gala in support of a charity that is close prince william's heart. ma max foster has more. >> reporter: one of the big stars here was jon bon jovi. taylor swift also flew in hot off the heels of her success at the american music award he is. and then a moment nobody expected. ♪ taylor swift, jon bon jovi, and prince william on stage singing living on a prayer. it's a cause very close to prince william's heart, also assumed by his mother, diana, who also lived here at

kensington palace. back to you. >> beautiful event. and what a memory to watch those three perform on stage together. >> three you might not put together. we want to talk about an issue that we talked about quite a lot here, the issue of football and concussions. a new cnn orc poll out this morning gives revealing insight into the way you feel about football, particularly safety and the culture of the game. joining us from atlanta, dr. sanjay gupta, and from cnn sports and bleacher report, dr. andy sholl sflt. let's talk about the young kids. coming up through pop warner leagues and into high school programs, we know that there is concern about our youth and playing football. let's show one of the results. 80% of those polled says concussions are a serious issue for high school football. that is an have a ordinary

amount. will we see the way the game is played change at all? >> i think so. a few years ago, hardly anyone was talking about this issue and now just about everybody knows something about this issue. some know more than others. there are people who are legitimately concerned and have expressed those concerns. you showed the numbers 80% versus 17%. when you look at the nfl versus middle school and high school, i think we have numbers on that, as well, whether people view the nfl less favorably because of the handling of the concussion crisis, 36% of people say yes, that they actually view the nfl less favorably. so there have been some actions by the nfl certainly to address this. and i think people have heard that part of the news, as well. but again, when it comes to middle school and high school, there appears to be more concern. these are kids versus nfl, these are adults. they have made some decisions about this particular career. so that's why you see the difference there.

>> and also, andy, i want to get your take and what this says about the game and fans of the game. when you look at another element of the poll that we had, asking if there are problems of injuries in nfl, people seem to kind of be okay with injuries. they say it is just part of the game. they're clearly split. and then also when you account for the fact that taking a look at another poll, does the bullying incident that we've talked so much about make you less favorable toward the nfl. 75% said no. so people think that injuries are part of the game and bullying doesn't change the way they feel about the game. what do you think that means? >> i think people just want their football and no matter what happens outside of the game, they realize it is a violent sport, these guys were trained to hit each other on the field. and no matter what happens on the field or locker room, they won't stop watching the game offo football. halfway through the nfl season, 19 out of the most watched -- 19

out of the 20 of the most watched programs on tv this year have all been nfl games. the only program that was in there that wasn't an nfl game was the season premiere of "the big bang theory". must be a good show because it's right up there. but it just goes to show really no matter what happens, people still want to sit and watch football like tomorrow on thanksgiving. what happens on that position give something you eat turkey and watch football. >> even the title of the one show that wasn't football, the big bang, because it's a suggestion of violence. and doc, i know it makes me sound incorrect politically, but let's put harassment to the side. put using the "n" word to the side. those are obvious wrongs that shouldn't be tolerated anywhere. but these discussions about how to change the game, you can't change the game in a way where you're not going to get your head hurt. you can't change the game in a way that it won't be violent. so what do you see as the meaningful purpose of these discussions? >> you're talking to this doctor or the other doctor?

>> you, dr. gupta, coming at you right before thanksgiving. >> i think what is interesting is that a lot of people pay attention to the big hits as you're saying. and obviously it draws a lot of fans and the viewer ship and all that. what is interesting and the science is really important here is that it's probably a lot of the combination of the smaller hits, as well. and these sub concussive hits that seem to really play a role in developing this alzheimer's-like disease that so many players including brett favre, tone ay dorsett concerne about it, haven't been diagnosed officially. and i think those subconcussive hits play a real role here. at the middle school and high school level, so many of those hits take place during practices for example as part of drills. so while the game itself may not change, the idea of protecting the brain and not having as many kickoff returns which are the most dangerous part of the game,

that part of it changes whether the viewers, the fans notice much of a difference. certainly they won't know what is taking place differently in practices. that could change the game. it could make people's brains more safer especially if you're playing essentially your whole life from a little kid onward. >> 50 years ago were we seeing the extensive injuries that we're seeing? the guys have gotten bigger, they're faster, they're heading harder. could we not go back to a time when it was not as vigorous of a game? >> smaller slower people? >> i guess you can't do that, can you. >> it has to start at the lowest levels. right now the players in the nfl have been trained no matter, what you make that hit, you tackle that player. if you start at the lowest levels at pop warner and say you don't lead with the head, don't try to hit up high, hit them in the shoulders or in the chest or down low, that's where it woulded start, but we won't see the trickle down effect until

those players reach the pros. >> well, thanks to both of our doctors. i officially take your title away, but it was a nice little segment. andy scholes, we appreciate you joining us. and you can catch dr. gup today on saturdays at 4:30 and sundays at 7:30 a.m. eastern. andy scholes is joining sanjay this weekend. happy thanksgiving, gentlemen. coming up on "new day," mother nature is bringing the hurt to all of us in the northeast. could the stronger winds spell disaster for the thanksgiving day parade? all the iconic balloons. what's going to happen? we'll tell you. plus another test for obama care before the supreme court. the justices will be taking up a controversial provision of the health care law. we will break down the whole thing. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself.

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just looking at that weather, that big green, pink, slop coming our direction, time to get out of the way. >> d-day. tens of millions hitting the roads and airports and that massive storm is hitting hard. rain, snow, strong winds. snarling traffic on the ground and in the air. tough call. macy's thanksgiving day parade now at risk, high winds could ground the famous balloons. we're spread out across the storm zone this morning with everything you need to know. major consequences for two big immediate are a figures. alec baldwin loses his cable talk show and laura logan now

suspended from "60 minutes". did the punishments fit the crime? >> your "new day" starts right now. what you need to know -- >> it was painful. we could have gone to the bahamas for less. >> nobody can control mother nature. >> what you have to see. >> they have to fly. somebody has to make them fly. good morning. welcome back to "new day". it is wednesday, november 27, 7:00 in the east. the day before thanksgiving. i hope you have so much to be thankful for. one thing we don't want to be thankful for is the weather. it's a mammoth storm walloping the east coast. rain, snow, everything that makes travel difficult stretching the entire coast from maine to georgia. >> and it doesn't matter if you're going by plane, train or car unfortunately, major airports in the storm's path are already seeing delays including philadelphia, boston, and all

three new york city airports. roads aren't much better with ice and freezing rain making for a tough trip along several highways already this morning. we of course have tee employed the full resources of cnn to keep you informed and safe this holiday season with correspondents covering all of the major travel hubs. we'll talk with indra peterson from coraopolis, pennsylvania. >> reporter: definitely talking about snow, not a sight you want to see on the busiest travel day of the year. take a look behind me, you can see the icy conditions that are out there. travelers trying to get out ahead of the storm, but unfortunately, we know this storm is only worsening and we'll be talking about heavy rain and snow and strong winds tloults throughou throughout the day today. massive and powerful nor'easter pummeled the northeast overnight bringing heavy snow and rain and causing dangerous icy roads.

satellite himmages from space captured the storm at one point stretching from florida to nova scotia. a storm that is affecting more than 43 million travelers as they brave the elements to be with loved ones this thanksgiving. on tuesday, the southeast walloped by heavy rain. >> here in atlanta, steady rain is causing some headaches. the roads are wet. they're slick. and they're cause something problems for the afternoon commute. >> reporter: snow has already blanketed parts of the midwest. in wisconsin, crews scrambled to keep up with the icing roadways. >> there is a point where there is nothing you can do. just glare ice and you're a passenger in your own car. >> reporter: the nor'easter already blamed for scores of accidents and at least a dozen deaths. >> we're here in irwin, pennsylvania, about 20 miles outside of pittsburgh. this region could see between 5 and 9 inches of snow. a state transportation official tells me that about 135 crews will be out in force in over 80

trucks trying to battle. >> reporter: in arkansas, freezing rainfall led to this 12 car pileup. >> get on the highway, next thing i know, i'm spinning. >> reporter: up to a foot of snow is possible in western parts of new york and northwest pennsylvania. meanwhile, winds are expected to intensify over the northeast into thanksgiving morning. those winds leaving the favorite the macy's thanksgiving day para parade about a loons up in tbal the air. it's a tough time for the major hubs and roads. we're expecting strong winds, heavier rains and heavier snows. >> all right. we'll be back with you soon. one of the hardest hit areas is western new york. plenty of snow fell this morning. more is on the way before george howell is live just outside buffalo. when we came to you before, you weren't that impressed by the snow. what have you seen since? >> reporter: well, you know, the snow is not coming down right now.

and as i said, putting this perspective for any grizzled snow veteran, these buffalo residents say is ththis is noth. but it is substantial snowfall. right here especially in the suburbs, you see more of it, anywhere from 3 to 4 inches of snow. we have another camera out here that i want to go to because you can see down the road here, and down the road, what we have is a wet heavy snow. and that's slushy on the roads. snowplows are out and about, clearing the roads well as they do here in buffalo. but another problem. want to come back to our camera because when you look up at the power lines, you see that heavy snow settiitting on the power l, we know several hundred people are out of you power, they are having power restored this morning. but definitely the snow came through fast and left a good coating here in buffalo. >> just looks like a regular buffalo, but the whole problem is that this is happening the day before thanksgiving. that's the problem.

all right ur, george, we'll che back in with you. today is one of the busiest days of the year for air travel. these are awfll of the flights the air right now and more than 100 flights have already been canceled today. that thunumber is expected to r. rene marsh is outside washington keeping track of that. >> reporter: you know, things are getting busier here as the hour moves on. you can see travelers are lining up. everyone hoping to get on their flight. but the bad news is not everyone will get on their flight at the time it was scheduled to leave. as you know, lots of delays today. >> at the end of the day, no one can control mother nature. >> reporter: the ripple effect causing problems in to the night for air travelers. the timing and shear size of the storm could not be worse. >> a storm this large throughout the east coast will have some

affect on the flight system. >> reporter: with just hours before thanksgiving, delays and cancellations adding up quickly as the storm pull he wills some of the nation's busiest airports. on average, one in ten flights go through new york airports. >> with 80% of our airplanes touching the congested northeast, we're acutely aware things are go wrong quickly. >> those planes are trying to land. >> reporter: some flights circled airports in the south on tuesday until they could land. low clouds and heavy rain delaying one in three flights taking off late from hartsfield jackson atlanta international airport. the world's busiest. >> the weather here delayed our flight. >> reporter: some air travelers deciding to change their plans in hopes of beating the storm. >> i was very happy i booked the day i did because if i booked tomorrow, probably get delayed. >> reporter: the peterson family planned on driving from north virginia to massachusetts, but changed their minds after seeing the forecast. they got a last minute flight instead. >> it was painful.

where we could have gone to the bahamas for less. >> reporter: mother nature isn't always cooperate. once we get through today, forecasters and travelers look ahead to sunday, the busiest travel day of the year. and back out here live, we can tell you that the delays, a lot of them having to do with that wind. you see folks here getting their tickets, they will find out when their flight pops up is it delayed or on time. let's get you to some specific airports. we know hartsfield in atlanta as well as o'hare and charlotte, they're really seeing the most amount of delays at this hour. we know at laguardia, some arriving flights are being delayed about an hour and 33 minute. and most cancellations at logan in boston and newark and laguardia. so we'll be tracking all of it and keep you updated. back to you. >> we really appreciate that. we want to drill down a little deeper because you might be at

an airport right now where the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day and you're wondering why your flight is suddenly delayed. let's say you're flying from chicago to phoenix tomorrow, but suddenly your flight is delayed despite good weather. once you arrive in phoenix, it won't stay in phoenix. it's going to make a whole lot of other routes. it will turn on to kansas city and nashville and pittsburgh and then back to chicago. a whole lot of stops. the airlines wants to keep all of those trips intact. so in a storm like today, the forecast may say parts of the east coast will be getting the worst hit, but you'll see cancellations in all of the airports. that includes that pittsburgh stop that you talked about -- that you originally were going to see. and then that has a vehicle he will down effect, it messes up every other flight that is going to be seeing the planes make the other stops. so when you multiply all of the delays by airlines and by airports, it really can make a mess and that turns out to be

the ripple effect. here is a piece of advice that i think is really valuable and that we can now use. use social media. maybe follow your airline on twitter and social media. they're quicker at wrup dating sometimes than their websites and you may not be able to get a hold of a person on the phone if you call them. if you can call ahead, if you can check online, but use twitter to your advantage, as well. >> that's a great point. we learned yesterday that the ceo of the philadelphia airport will be tweeting stuff out, as well. you're getting a live look at new york's penn station. one of the east coast's commuter hubs that is already jam-packed with travelers on this getaway day. they could have their hands full with the brunt of the storm bearing down. we'll keep an eye on this for you and if you're stuck at the airport or on the road, tell us about it. we'll bring your stories to air. cnn.com/ireport hop hopefully yo your travels are okay. coming up, the highest court

in the land agrees to hear one of the biggest challenges to obama care yet. should companies be required to provide coverage for contraception and the morning after pill? at least two companies say no. will the court side with them? we'll take you through it. plus traveling on this day before thanksgiving is usually a challenge. throw in a major storm and you've got some real issues that we've been talking about. pamela brown is just outside new york city heading to i-95. pamela. >> reporter: yeah, we've been out on the roads all morning and let me tell you, if you're hoping to beat the holiday travel rush by hitting the roads earlier today, that may not be your best bet. we've been tracking the conditions and we will bring you the latest in just about half an hour from now. to be this awesome. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...

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welcome back to "new day". obama care is going back to the supreme court. the justices agreed to review two cases where employers are required to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay. that's part of the law. the companies at the center of this issue argue the law's mandate goes against their religious beliefs. here to break it all down is cnn's political analyst and executive editor of the daily beast and also a professor of law at george washington university. good morning to both of you. jo jonathan, legally the constitutional issues at hand are fascinating. what are the justices going to consider? >> well, this could really have gigantic impact. and not just for obama care, but hoe we re

how we read the free exercise clause. at issue is a split in the circuits. one circuit, the tenth, says corporations are persons and they built that on the rather controversial 2010 decision in citizens united. and what the court said if they have speech rights, they also have religious rights. the third circuit rule that had they don't. both of those cases have now been accepted.that had they don't. both of those cases have now been accepted. not only would the the success of the case off the tenth circuit deliver a blow to obama care, but it would radically the expand the right of people to make religious objections, not just to obama care, but also to perhaps some nondiscrimination laws that we're see popping up in conflicts around the country. >> that's interesting. there is another legal point that i wanted to come to with you in a second, professor, about how justice scalia, who has had very definite ideas

about issues like contraception and reproductive rights may be on the other side of this. but we'll get to that in a second. politically, this could be a win for people who don't like obama care. the law could go that way in the courts because of the split we just heard from professor turley. what does this mean if it happens? >> politically this is very charged and both sides have something to lose and something to gain. for republicans, this gives them a chance to relitigate obama care, to fire up their base and really at that time case for religious liberty. is this an animatedrvativconser. on the other side, swing voters can resent when government starts getting involved in social issues. so democrats can play their war on women card going into a midterm election. so both sides, the plit fought lines line up clearly here straight to the supreme court in a congressional election year. >> what is the obama administration saying about this? clearly they defend the law.

but do you think they should be concerned about the political fallout? >> the obama administration says they're confident that the law will be upheld. they already created an exemption for nonprofits that didn't want to participate. >> that was a political fight. >> a major political fight and concession on the part of the obama administration. so at heart is the corporation. can your boss deny you contraception. that is a loaded emotional issue with political, cultural and legal implications. >> so professor, 1990, justice scalia says that smoking peote, he was against it legally, he said you can't use religion to confuse otherwise good law. will that handcuff the justice in deciding this case? >> you'd be amazed at how these people can escape handcuffs. in 2010, the decision citizens united was like watching

apepisode of tan episode of the borges. these people are quite nimble in those maneuvers. what's interesting here is you have a for-profit corporation and here the owner of hobby lobby does not object to giving contraception services, but only part of those, the morning after pill. i think the administration can use that to say if you allow every to develop these very specific objections, not only will you not have uniformity, but women will be in a position of having to find out from every potential employer what is it that you like and don't like for religious purposes. >> and this may have been a greater question than the individual mandate because that was the core of the law when this was fought the first time around. but when you look at this element, what do you think about the slippery slope argument? you pull out this part, or this is seen to go too far, then the whole law is open to be battled.

>> i don't think this aspect is the jenga game that collapses the whole law even though advocates will say that it is. what this really does get to is profound questions about religious liberty. and there absolutely is this potential for contradiction. because socially conservative justices can be opposed to illegal drugs, here they really have thateligious liberty impul impulse. on the political level, the court has become so politicized, it does distort their judgment. so you'll see this being a front in the midterm elections like it or not. >> also raises the question at what point do you stop challenging the law. at what point do you accept that this was passed, it was tested by the supreme court. you talk about good ap stand stg law. to me it's a growing distraction from dealing with the problems of obama care.

>> we're not at that point yet, that's for sure. at least one more round in the supreme court. >> and timing wise, likely to be argued in march, decided by the end of june? >> right. this is going to be a spring argument. and we'll see very clearly not just how the justices feel about this provision of obama care, but how far they're willing to go in terms of spreading the -- or expanding the right to claim religious freedom. whether corporations can do that. the third circuit said a corporation can't pray, complaint engage in religious practices. but the tenth circuit says they're persons and this comes with being a person. >> that's why there is a the highest court in the land. >> you thought it was complicated before, wait until the law gets involved. they will be arguing it sdpts apply to states, so what does that mean on the federal level. it will get complications. >> are corporations people. >> persons. everything has to sound weird. >> you're good persons, too.

>> happy thanksgiving to both of you. coming up on "new day," a beloved holiday tradition in jeopardy. will the wind ground the balloons for the macy's thanksgiving day parade? say it ain't so. but you have to remember when those balloons go wrong, it could have deadly consequences. and another blow for alec baldwin. his msnbc talk show pulled after controversial comments he made off the show. so what is next for the actor? we will discuss. when it's donut friday at the office, i use my citi thankyou card to get 2x the points at the coffee shop. which will help me get to a beach in miami and they'll be stuck at the cube farm. the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points dining out, with no annual fee. go to citi.com/thankyoucards to get our adt security system. and one really big reason -- the house next door.

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welcome back to "new day". on an ordinary day, all of the

rough weather would be a pain. you wouldn't like it. it could be dangerous. but on one of the busiest travel days of the year, it's just severally a nightmare. remember, 43 million people plan to make their thanksgiving getaways by plane, car, train. but the rain, snow, icy roads will have to force many to rethink it. >> planes are having trouble taking off on the east coast. just look at this map. and flights from elsewhere are having trouble landing. driving conditions are just as bad. we have all the angles covered for you. let's start with indra peterson in coraopolis, pennsylvania. >> reporter: we're definitely seeing snow out here. i'll step it up a notch. traveling also bad enough alone, but combined with all the winter weather, here is the nightmare we were afraid of and that's exactly what we're dealing with today. rain, snow, and even strong winds. nothing good in the air or on the ground. let's talk about where the storm is right now. take a look at the satellite picture. anywhere from the northeast and tell all the way back down

through the carolinas, we're still talking about heavy rain and snow. and we've seen a pretty good amount of snow. on the front side, it's rain. back side, the snow. yesterday already in ohio, anywhere from 6 to 8 inches of snow was already seen. we saw snow coming into pittsburgh. and remember, if even if it's not snowing hard, the visibility is so poor. just trying to land in pittsburgh, i didn't even see the runways up the wheels touched. that will be a concern today. also we'll be talking about snow anywhere from a foot of snow right around the great lakes, of course that lake-effect snow tapering off even back through kentucky and tennessee in the morning hours. the big story as the low continues to make its way to the north, rain increases. things actually worsen for you. heavy amounts of rain will start falling. heavier snow will start moving in places like upstate new york, pennsylvania, even through west virginia. so that is the concern for these major hubs today. and it's not the only thing. of course we talked about 2 to 4 inches of rain, maybe a foot of snow the farther north you are.

it's also high independent wiwit there for new england, connecticut, new york. gusts as high as 60 miles per hour in these morning morning hours. remember this is the toughest time period. things will be strongest in these morning hours. winds start to taper off again tonight. the rain and snow starts to move out, but for thanksgiving day if you're a last minute traveler, we'll still have the problem being those winds. >> all right. and strong point last minute travelers. a lot of people working today, so you have people working, people trying to get to see their family. all the rain. roads are slick. temperatures keeping them icy. a dangerous situation. pamela brown is on one of the major thoroughfares, interstate 95 outside new york city. what are we seeing out there? >> reporter: well, you poeinted out last time that my job today is to find traffic. i'm here on 95 authority. right now it's smooth sailing going this direction, but we'll show you 95 south. we just passed an accident there and the traffic is very backed

up. you can see here from one of our cameras. this is going all the way down, we just passed the accident about three or four minutes ago and the traffic is still backed up just to give you an idea. this could be the scene all over today as the weather conditions continue to deteriorate. the rain is expected to pick up. the temperatures are expected to drop. you can see black ice on the roads. it's supposed to snow the further west we go, rain the further east we go. and 39 million americans are expected to hit the roads today on this busiest travel day of the year according to aaa. so is that will be com poundeda conditions. one person tweeted and said a typical drive from d.c. to dayton, ohio is eight hours. it took them 13 hours to get there. so many stories people are sharing. if you have a story, tweet

me@pamela brown cnn. >> and i hone you're also asking people to-to-tweet what you their favorite car games are because they will need it with that traffic. all right. thank you so much. mine is i spy. you'd be very good at it. >> mine is be quiet. >> mine is feed chris' children candy. >> it's tough when you have kids and a lot of people will be dealing with that. >> let's talk about the winds, though. nasty weather is now threatening a thanksgiving tradition. big winds expected in new york thursday morning which could ground snoopy, sponge bob and all of the other macy's parade about a loons. jason carroll is on the parade route. jason, what are you see something. >> reporter: well, let me just say this. what i'm seeing is the barricades have been set up, bleachers have been set up. everything so far is proceeding as planned. but all of that could change first thing tomorrow morning.

up, up and away. maybe. >> i-95 corridor -- >> reporter: very powerful winds. >> this wind could affect the balloons. >> reporter: the thanksgiving day parade giant balloons. will they fly or won't that i. jose and his family are hoping to see them soar. >> came all the way from puerto rico to see the parade, so it would be a disappointment. >> reporter: same from this family. >> they have to fly. somebody has to make them fly. >> reporter: parade organizers aren't concerned about rain or snow. it's wind. giant balloons like the all new toothless from "how to train your dragon" measuring 72 feet long and 36 feet wide could be grounded. that is if some forecasts are true and sustained winds reach at least 23 miles per hour thursday or we said gusts top 34 miles per hour. macy's saying regarding the giant balloons, a determination is made on their inclusion based

on real time weather data parade morning and not forecasts. so it's not helpful to discuss it now. it was a topic of discussion and concern for new york city police. >> so we've had several meetings, i have a meeting today on it. we have instruments that give us the cross wind measurements. we've done a lot of training on this. >> reporter: both city and parade officials have learned from past wind related balloon accidents in that 1997, a woman spent horn three weeks in a coma after the cat in a hat balloon struck a light pole which hit her. in 2005, two more were hurt in a similar accident involving the m and m's balloon. now improved weather monitoring dweess are along the parade route and police sergeant assigned to each balloon. balloons like snoopy and woodstock and an updated sponge bob are ready to fly. but even about they don't, this family will not be disappointed.

>> the balloons aren't about thanksgiving. it's about fellowship and family and just being thankful. >> reporter: and that is one way to keep it all in perspective. 16 giant balloons are actually in jeopardy, but again for right now, parade organizers are saying everything is a go, they will make a final decision tomorrow morning. so everything is proceeding as planned. later this afternoon at about 3:00, they will be inflating those giant balloons. fenk er fingers crossed they can fly tomorrow. >> there are a lot of collective fingers crossed right now. let's take a look at what conditions are like right now in new york city. specifically in manhattan. we want to see that the temperature isn't really an issue, but it's these wind speeds and the gust speed. 3 miles per hour, and 21 miles per hour for the gusts. these are the numbers parade officials are watching closely. as you heard jason just say, if

the sustained winds go above 23 miles per hour or the gusts are measured at above 34 plirn, thin they ground the balloons. what does that mean? it means they will be looking at this forecast at parade time. this is the forecast thanks to our weather department. the draft for tomorrow, 20-mile-per-hour sustained winds. gusts up to 31 miles per hour. it is just under the threshold. so these are the two numbers that parade officials will look at. as jason mentioned, the parade will go on just without the balloons. but again, it's all about being thankful, right? >> absolutely right. keeping it in perspective. thanks so much. coming up next, his insults lasted longer than his talk show. we'll look at why alec baldwin got the ax cfrom msnbc. and a comet captured by cameras in space. how cool is that. we'll show you this later in the shower.

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welcome back to "new day". here are some of the stories making news. first of course the huge complicating holiday travel for millions of people. flights to and from the east coast is in jeopardy because of the rain, snow and strong winds. over 100 flights already have been canceled. roads are also slick. even after the rain passes, high wind will be an issue and it may force the balloons to sit out the macy's thanksgiving day parade. happening now, hundreds of homes in ohio have been evacuated after a train began

leaking hazardous chemicals overnight. a puncture in the 26,000 pound rail car caused the leak at willard rail yard. about 400 homes have been evacuated to a nearby high school. the state's environmental te department is monitoring the scene. tensions are heightened between the u.s. and china after two military planes flew over disputed air space on a training exercise. the zone is already in dispute because japan also claims ownership of that space. as many as 30 haitian immigrants may have been killed when their overcrowded sailboat capsized off the coast of the bahamas. more than 100 people were on board. many of them were rescued after clinging to the overturned boat for hours. so far five bodies have been recovered and the search continues for more victims. his young age and shocking on-camera sdrepgs of his crimes grew international attention.

today this teen assassin is back on u.s. authorities. mexican authorities released him from prison and deported the 17 why would. at the age of 14, he admitted to beheading at least four people. he says he was kidnapped at age 11 by a mexican drug cartel and was forced to become their hit man. a dramatic rescue captured on police dash cam video. a new jersey officer pulling an unconscious drive frerr from a burning drug. he's in critical but stable condition. the hero police officer was typically humble, he says he was just doing his job and that any one of his fellow officers in the cape may place department would ha police department would have done the same thing. that man has certainly a few anxiogels to thank. two major tv shakeups were announced. 60 minutes lara logan and her producer have been put on a leave of absence.

following a report on the attack on benghazi in which their source was determined to be lying. then msnbc and al lacec baldwin parted ways after he was caught on camera using a gay slur among other things. all right. here is a treat for you. cnn's seen i don't media correspondent brand new host of reliable sources mr. brian stelzer is here. thank the news gods that you have stuff to talk about. so good for us to discuss it. but is this true? this is not important because it's important to us because it's a small business and we care about each other. and what happens. are we seeing a reflected view of bigger political battle waging in society? >> i think we are. let's take lara logan first. her report on benghazi was cheered by conservatives,

hateded by some liberals and some liberal media advocacy groups that immediately tried to tear to pieces. turns out that report was pretty easy to tear apart. liberals were on to something in that case. and then the conservatives fell silent about all the neshl initial celebrating. let's take alec baldwin. in that case it was all sorts of people with different points of view that were upset by his comments. conservatives don't like him because he has a history of liberal political opinions. some liberals were unhappy with what seemed to be an anti-gay comment he made. he has blamed the quote/unquote fundamentalist wing of gay advocacy groups. but in this case, it was all of these sorts of, you know, battles and this was a proxy for that. >> even bashir, what he said way over the line of any type of acceptable behavior. however also in a political context. >> that's right.

you about because he was talking about sarah palin, we saw some conservatives immediately go after bashir in a way that we might not have seen if he worked for a different network. but because he worked for a liberal network, they saw an opportunity to pounce. and that's probably the right thing. because they're holding msnbc and bashir accountable. that's what viewers should do. >> and when people look at this from the outside looking in, they're often not just looking at what was done or done wrong. how the network reacted is often what is looked at. let's talk about lara logan and the benghazi report. people have been critical saying it took cbs a long time to say anything, to put in place an investigation and to take any, a. none of us are perfect, but none of us want to get a report especially one as significant as that wrong. where do you see cbs fell short? >> it was october 27th when her report aired.

some of the information was interesting, but the main source was discredited. an entire month as passed and that's how long it took for them to reese lolease the results of investigation. >> what if they say they were trying to be considerate, did that have any jerk reaction? >> that would be one thing. what it seemed was that they got defensive and tried to avoid any public comment instead of saying we're investigating it, taking our time and we will tell you as soon as we -- >> the ugliest allegation was you didn't vet this guy because he was giving you what you wanted. so that there was a lighter treatment. and now you're calling it a leave of absence. and by the way, i don't know that it's the right move to do to lara logan. but do you believe that they are now fully showing what they're supposed to show? >> i think one thing is don't miss it. lara logan will come back. but she hasn't explained her side of the story yet. and i say up she does that, there will be lingering

questions about whether she was out looking for a person, looking for information that just reflected her open views. >> earned her chops, works hard you can known for being a straet sho straight shooter. >> each situation is a little different, bashir, baldwin and logan. but there have been three different reactions from each of the people and the scenarios around them. what one do you think comes out the best? >> and the worst. >> both. >> martin bashir is the one who is still employed and not having a leave of absence and not been suspended. >> and the same cable network having two different reactions. >> that's right. >> gay slur very bad. >> major difference is that his apology seemed very sincere. at least to his colleagues. i've heard from several people at msnbc high up in the organization who say martin bashir truly felt sorry. and that might not have been the case for alec baldwin who denied saying what he said at first and then kind of gave a half hearted

apology. >> we're talking about a bigger game afoot. when we had a media critic on to talk about this, he says the obvious, that it was wrong, he can't believe he hasn't been fired. my reaction is i can't believe the guy just said something so insulting. so we started asking, was there a bigger context, do you think it was just an insult. just asking the questions, just saying the apology was impressive in terms of media apologies, url takes a while to get to full contrition. i got lumped right in with the -- you're defending, you're part of it, you're part of this conspiracy against the right. and it made me feel like it exceeded so much the bounds of what the facts suggested that there was another agenda afoot. se same thing or me being defensive? >> i think these stories take on such a life of their own that a lot of people never actually see the original segments. i would encourage the next time this happens, go online, watch

the original videos of all of these cases and that's the ultimate perspective. because -- >> they take a life of their own on. >> they sure do. and they are proxies for the broader political battles. 20 years from now, we might be fighting about internet columnists, but right now it's television. >> and also the media can be so unforgiving when somebody makes a mistake. but when it's us, there but for the grace comes up. but very different situations. >> that's right. >> brian, you're the man. welcome. where he are now thankful for you. you go on the list of thanksgivings. >> let's keep the theme going. >> welcome to the marathon that is cnn. coming up on "new day," what does a comet look like as it hurdles toward the sun? you have no question because we'll give you the answer. very cool images coming up. and what are you thankful for this thanksgiving? many of you told us and we'll

share some of our favorites from my weekly instragram challenge when we come back. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce.

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♪ waiting for a star to fall the that was my jam back in the day. welcome back to "new day." we're looking to the sky trying to check the weather but we have amazing time lapse video to show you of of a comet shot from space, it's heading for a thanksgiving day date with the sun. you can see the comet moving in from the left, the sun beyond the right edge there, you see the image hinted at by the

steady stream of particles moving in from the right. how cool is that? look at that, we even put that band. that band is not in space, we're doing it to make it easier for you. i feel like neil degrass tyson without the genius, physics and beautiful voice. >> neil degrass light. >> like the tab version. >> this is what i've been excited about all day. i hope you can play along. each week i challenge our instagram followers to send in their best pic, we've do done #follows here. this week #thankful and look at solve the inspiring submissions that came in from all of you. what are you thankful for? me, coffee, alarm clocks and family. the challenge was simple, show us what you're thankful for.

your responses so special that in the spirit of thanksgiving, we wanted to share and hopefully inspire. >> i'm thankful for my students here at the academy especially our seniors doing whatever it takes to get into college. it will be the first graduating class from lee academy high school, class of 2014! >> you are thankful for family. >> this thanksgiving and every day i just wanted to say how grateful i am to have such a great twin, jen, as my partner in crime, basically she is like the rock of the family. >> i love you with all my heart. >> i love you, to. happy thanksgiving. >> who could resist giving thanks for me sthese faces. >> i'm laura, here with my kids connor and lucy. this is connor, he's 4 months old, drinking a bottle. and this is my daughter, lucy. she's 4 years old. can you say hi, lucy? >> hi. >> can you wave? they bring me so much joy and so much love every single day and

add so much meaning to my life, more than i ever thought was imaginable. >> mary margaret is grateful, 21-month-old tory got a second chance at life. >> this past july at the age of 17 months, tory underwent not one but two liver transplants. going into this adventure i would have never thought a 1-year-old would be able to teach me anything but it's one of the most invalue identifiable experiences of my life. >> you sent photos of your furry friends, always by your side. >> good morning "new day." my name is justine and this is my 11-month-old puppy, theodore. i'm grateful to have him in my life because he puts a smile on my facer day. >> from coast to coast, you are thankful, for grandkids, role models, and thankful for loved ones, like this couple celebr e celebrating 65 years of lasting love, and there's blake and melissa, thankful for each other and the many years together to come. >> she has been my rock, my one

and only for almost two years. she's been my best friend for almost four, and there isn't a day that goes by that i, you know, i'm not incredible thankful for her. >> it is a joy of my week to connect with everybody. they send in the best stuff and i sent one out today, too. i had my #thankful for my goofy friends. i just posted this morning. the three of us together, we had so much fun together. >> i was photo bombing there. that was a picture of just them. >> he was not trying to eat our hair. >> he might have gotten a mouthful. >> it's a great way to connect with our viewers and let them be part of the whole thing, so much fun and you still have some time to be part of #thankful. we'll keep it going for another week. i always do, it's impossible, but we pick a winner, a top submission and send you a thank you and honorable mention so we'll do that next week.

take part in the challenge, if you want to do it, you have to post to my instagram and@newdaycnn and let us know what you think. >> all of the barriers to entry. >> you just have to get to us so we can see it. #newday, we will get it. >> so many things you take granted that are fragile, people married forever, just married, dog with the humongous head, the mom able to videotape her own thing. kid, meet other kid, amazing. >> the lighting was perfect, too. way to go. >> we'll give you a break so you can file one right now. i don't know if that's the right verb. >> sure. >> coming up on "new day" the powerful storm packing snow, sleet and rain is threatening your turkey day and it will only get worse before it goes better. we'll go inside a major airlines operating center to show you how

they're handling the travel nightmare. >> and we'll talk with the family of the longest held american hostage in history, their efforts to bring the former fbi agent home ahead. ♪ it's the night before christmas, ♪ ♪ our plan is in place. ♪ we've rigged up a trap to catch sight of his face. ♪ ♪ if only we could, just stay awake... ♪ ♪ so i deserve a small business credit card with amazing rewards. with the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. i break my back around here. finally someone's recognizing me with unlimited rewards!

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v --tcaptions by vitaco--y. www.vitac.com the just want to take off and land on time. that's what i want. >> travel chaos, tens of millions are struggling to get home for thanksgiving today but a massive storm is battering the eastern half of the country. air and ground traffic snarled. we'll give you the best routes to free tom. we are spread out across the storm stone including live inside a major airlines' flight

center. can they get all of their flights off the ground this morning? bad deal, president obama struck a temporary agreement with iran but no mention of americans being hold hostage there. some of the families are angry, one speaks out to us. >> your "new day" continues right now. >> announcer: what you need to know -- >> i was just coasting going about 3 miles an hour and i just about got in a car accident. >> i get on the highway, next thing i know i'm spinning. >> announcer: what you just have to see. >> think it will make them feel they are appreciated and we do know they're fighting for us. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. >> good morning, and welcome back to "new day," everyone. it is wednesday, november 27th, 8:00 in the east. you can almost taste the turkey, but you have to get there first. monster storm stretching all the

way up the east coast, presenting some serious challenges for holiday travelers. it's been a little bit of everything, or a lot in most cases, rain, wind, ice, and snow. >> and just poorly placed because maimer airport hubs are right in the path of the storm, including the three new york city area airports. nearly 100 flights already canceled, more expected. most people traveling to their thanksgiving destinations will be driving and if you're hitting the road you'll need patience especially if you're riding shotgun. we have it covered from the weather delays, what's going on in the air and the road, the rails, everywhere we can. let's zero in on the storm itself. for that we have indra petersons, live in coreapolis, a suburb of pittsburgh. >> reporter: worst day of the year to have a major storm system in the major hubs and today right before thanksgiving, people trying to take the day off, get out early and right now we're talking about the time

period we'll see the strongest rain, strongest snow and the heaviest winds. massive and powerful nor'easter pummeled the northeast overnight bringing heavy snow and rain and causing dangerous icy roads. satellite images from space captured the storm at one point, stretching from florida to nova scotia. storm that's affecting more than 43 million travelers as they brave the elements to be with loved ones this thanksgiving. on tuesday, the southeast walloped by heavy rain. here in atlanta, steady rain is causing some headaches. the roads are wet, they're slick and causing some problems for the afternoon commute. >> reporter: snow has already blanketed parts of the midwest. in wisconsin, crews scramble to keep up with the icy roadways. >> there's a point where there's nothing you can do, it's flair ice and just a passenger in your own car. >> reporter: the nor'easter already blamed for scores of accidents and at least a dozen

deaths. >> we're here in irwin, pennsylvania, about 20 miles outside of pittsburgh. this reegion could see between five and nine inches of snow. state transportation official tells me about 135 crews will be out in force in over 80 trucks trying to battle this downfall. >> reporter: in arkansas freezing rain led to this 12-car pile-up. >> i get on the highway, next thing i know i'm spinning. >> reporter: up to a foot of snow is possible in western parts of no, new york and northwest pennsylvania. meanwhile, winds are expected to intensify over the northeast and into thanksgiving morning. >> happy thanksgiving! >> reporter: those winds leaving the fate of the macy's thanksgiving day balloons up in the air. we talked. the heavy rain and heavy snow. never a good thing with all the people trying to make it out on the roadways, driving on icy roads, never a good situation and of course when the rain and snow tapers off by tomorrow we're still going to be left with strong winds, never a good thing in you're traveling by air. >> that's right, indra, thank you so much.

let's talk about the worst of the snow expected in parts of western and upstate new york where they're quite familiar with lake-effect snow. george howell is in amherst, new york, outside of buffalo. hi there, george. >> reporter: good morning. so buffalo residents, they're used to this sort of thing. the concern is the people who are travel through this reegion who may not be accustomed to the snow that fell. in western new york the snowfall is substantial right here in the suburbs of buffalo, we're looking at anywhere from three to four inches of snow and i also want to go to the camera we've set up just to show you the roads. what we're dealing with here is a wet, heavy, thick snow and slushy on the roads. there's also the concern about black ice and that could be treacherous for travelers, a lot of people taking to the roads this wednesday before thanksgiving. i want to come back to our other camera here, looking live at these power lines, again, it's a heavy snow, and we've seen several power outages, hundreds of people who are out of power, waiting to be restored here in

the buffalo area. we are seeing also the possibility here of more lake-effect snow so we could have more snow showers as the day goes on. >> all right, george, thank you very much. we'll check back in with you. look, the reality here, there's the good and the pad. lot of people are watching us right now in airports. the bad part is you don't want to be, because you want to be getting on your flights but throughout the day, the delays are going to get longer and longer and the reason is obvious, the massive nor'easter is creating chaos at the busiest airline hubs because they're in its path and that's going to obviously mean delays. rene marsh is keeping an eye on the sky for us at reagan national airport but looking at the entire country. what do we know, rene? >> reporter: well, we can tell you here at reagan, we are starting to see those delays start to stack up, they are ranging anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half, places like philadelphia experiencing lay its on planes coming in as well as laguardia.

bottom line is, folks, if if you are trying to get to your destination, you may have to add a little extra time onto your trip. >> at the end of the day no one can control mother nature. >> reporter: the ripple effect of the nast ye nor'easter causing problems into the night for air travelers. the timing and sheer size of the storm could not be worse. >> a storm this large throughout the east coast is going to have some effect on the flight system. >> reporter: with just hours before thanksgiving, delays and cancellations adding up quickly as the storm pummels some of the nation's busiest airports. on average, one in ten flights go through new york airports. >> with 80% of our airports touching the northeast we're acutely aware things can go wrong el arively quickly. >> reporter: some flights circled airports in the south tuesday until they could lapped. low clouds and heavy rain delaying with unin three flights taking off late from hartsfield-jackson atlanta international airport the

world's busiest. >> the weather lay itted her flight. >> reporter: some air travelers deciding to change their plans in hopes of beating the storm. >> i was very happy, i booked the day i did, because i booked tomorrow, probably get delayed. >> reporter: the peterson family planned on driving from north virginia to massachusetts, but changed their minds after seeing the forecast. they got a last-minute flight instead. >> it was painful. we could have gone to the bahamas for a lot less i think. >> reporter: mother nature doesn't always cooperate with the great thanksgiving escape. once we get through today, forecasters and travelers alike look ahead to sunday, the busiest travel day of the year. all right, so people making their way to the lines here, everyone hoping that they don't get the bad news that they are getting delayed. want to give you just a little bit of information about specific airports, we know philly is seeing delays for arriving flights, about an hour and 55 minutes on average, laguardia, also because of that wind, seeing delays op. arriving flights on average, 59 minutes.

so the list will go on, it will get longer and these delays, unfortunately, will continue to stack up as we go through the morning. back to you. >> hope for the best but plan for something a little less than that when you're headed to the airports. thank you so much. the crowds not isolated to just the roads and the airports. the nation's railways are also expecting a heavy influx of travelers this holiday. let's go live to new york's pep station, that's where we find cnn's alexandra steele this morning. >> reporter: good morning, kate. we know thanksgiving travel is always a gamble but so far you are winning. take a look at the big board in penn station, the trains are running on time, almost across the word, just one clay posted at the moment. amtrak says they have no maimer delays to report, that's great news for holiday travelers, but if if you are coming out to get on a train, expect a big crowd. amtrak says it will carry 140,000 passengers today, that's double the volume of a normal wednesday. every train in the system is

running today, extra seats have been added to some routes to accommodate the extra travelers. last year amtrak had a record number of travelers during thanksgiving travel season. this year they are hoping to keep up and if your travel plans have been railroaded for some reason by the weather, amtrak still has a few seats open. michaela? >> all right, alexandra, we wish everyone traveling today the best of luck getting to their destination. let's look at what is making news at this hour, heightened tension this morning between the u.s. and china, after two american b-5 bombers flew into disputed air space over the east china sea this week, a direct challenge to china's claims of sovereignty over the region. the flights were conducted without incident. beijing says it identified and monitored the b-52s and will continue to exercise effective control over the disputed air space. story out of arizona this morning, three gurlz say they were imprisoned in their family home in tucson for two years,

ages 12, 13 and 17, police say the girls were malnourished and living in filthy conditions. the youngest who escaped when their stepfather broke down a door and threatened them, their mother and stepfather are facing kidnapping and child abuse charges. a texas nurse is dead, stabbed to death while defending patients from a man with a knife. witnesses say gayle savage rushed to help when she heard screams at a surgical center in longview, texas. four others were injured. police later arrested kyron t h templeton, charged with murder and aggravated assault. the justices will hear two cases challenging obama care's law mandate that requires employers to provide contraceptive coverage. many religious organizations are exempt but some business owners says the rule forces them to violate their faith. the cases will be argued next spring. there are buzzer beaters and then there are buzzer beaters.

check out this shot last night, nothing but net! it made it all the way to espn's sportscenter as number one on the network's top ten play. nothing but net. >> there was good defense on the play. >> just saying. and the crowd goes wild! >> there's nothing better than those. >> i've only experienced them the other way. >> exactly i throw it in, oh it didn't make it to the rim at all. >> shoot it. >> that's a throw. that's not a shot. come on, be with me on this. >> it was great. i'll give it to you, i'm thankful for you today. you got it. you got it. it was a great throw. come up on "new day" he's the longest held american hostage in history. the question is, why, with all these negotiations going on with iran, why is former fbi agent robert levinson not on the table to be brought back home? we'll speak exclusively with his

wife and son about their efforts to bring them home. we're keeping you updated on travel woes, a live picture from the road, that's our pamela brown outside of new york. >> that is the face of pain on the road. >> that's the face of i'm stuck in traffic. she's been on the road all morning long and going to tell us what drivers can expect. ech ] ♪ [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today... will power us all... into the future. ♪ did you try restarting it? no, not that. i was thinking about getting a tablet as a gift... verizon has tablets. they got a lot of them? accessing brain information... yes, they have a lot to choose from. did you really just... and now you can get $100 off any tablet. thanks, wayne.

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withal come back to "new day." as we've reported the u.s. recently struck a deal with iran over its nuclear program. not part of the deal is something you need to know about, the release of at least three american hostages thought to be held there. one of those hostages is former fbi agent robert levinson, that's who you're looking at. he was taken in the iranian island of kish in 2007 making

him the longest american held hostage in history. the family is fighting for any information regarding his condition or whereabouts. joining us now is robert's wife, christine levinson and his son, dan levinson as well. thank you to both of you joining us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you for having us. >> i wish there were more cause to be thankful for this situation, hopefully we can change that by keeping the word out there especially with iran being in the national dialogue right now. christine, tell us who your husband is. what happened to him? >> my husband is robert levinson. he went on a business trip to kish island, which is part of iran, and it was supposed to be a 24-hour trip, and he never left there. unfortunately that was march 9th, 2007, and we have never heard anything about him whereabouts since then. his passport has not been seen. we have not received any recent

information about him, although i do believe he is safe and will come home to us soon. >> dan? the puck tour that we're seeing of your father we believe, what are the circumstances of this photo? what is the best guess as to why he's in iran, what can you tell us? >> i'm assuming you're showing the orange jumpsuit photos e-mailed to us. >> yes. >> in april, 2011, and we were, e-mailed those photos, there are five of them and he's holding messages which we're still trying to understand the actual meaning behind the messages. he looks very different from when we last saw him. he was visibly thinner, he has an unkempt beard, long hair and it does worry us but at the same time we were happy to see that he's alive and relatively well, being treated relatively well, but it's concerning to us because we haven't heard anything since the last photos. >> of course it is. i mean, this has got to be a

panic for you every day and that's why we're trying to help because it's a little confusing, let me just ask one more question and then we'll get into the obvious about what needs to be done now. is there any reason to believe he's somewhere else? is there any good explanation that the state department or any authority or agency in the united states government could offer for why he may be somewhere else, because there was a recent report that i think it was ahmadinejad, an iranian official had somewhat alluded to the fact that your father was there. is that accurate? >> he was last seen in iran on cu kish island. that's the only information we have about his travels. as i said earlier, his passport has never been seen anywhere else, but six and a half years have passed and we don't know exactly where he is at this moment in time. >> when you go to the state department and ask the government for help, what do they tell you? >> they are working as hard as they can to get him home.

unfortunately, he disappeared in the country of iran, and it is very hard to get anything done there. we need the officials in iran to help us and make sure that bob is safe and get him home to us. >> and that's where the frustration comes in, certainly, dan, for you, where right now we're negotiating with iran, right now we're discussing what should be on the table in terms of establishing trust. there has been some news reporting given to pastor abedini, who has been held there supposedly for his practice of christianity. your father wasn't on the radar. do you think he should be part of this negotiation? >> we've been told and the u.s. officials have been saying in recent days he's brought up in every opportunity to have on the sidelines of these negotiations, and they're going to continue to press his case and we have no doubt that the u.s. government is doing everything they can. something i'd like to note that was very important for us was

during that phone call two months ago between president e obama and president rouhani, the first time leaders of our country have had contact in 24 years, president obama did bring up my dad's case and we think it was big for us and shows how important it is to the u.s. government and we're grateful for president obama bringing that up and we're just hoping that president rouhani and his administration can follow up on that request. >> thank you for correcting me, i said ahmadinejad,' rouhani the newly elected leader, president obama and aleutian made and my understanding from the reporting is rouhani didn't say, who are you talking about, or no, he's not here and obviously that gives some credence to the suggestion that he is. is that your take as well? >> well, we don't know what he actually said back or what was discussed. all we know was that he was brought up and president obama noted the importance of bringing him home. there are other reports from when ahmadinejad was interviewed

years previous, but we're focused on the new administration and they seem verile to cooperate with the u.s. on a number of issues and we are hoping our dad is returned home to us as one of those. >> fourth year you can't or you don't want, i believe is the sign that was hung around your father there. you've been struggling to make sense of that. i'm sure you're trying to make sense of all of this, christine, it's such an unnaturalsirk ta circumstance to be in. let the people watching the show know who is missing, who is this man, what does he represent to your family? >> bob is a wonderful man. he is my whole life. we will be married for 40 years on our next anniversary. we have seven children. we were lufg the american dream. we had a happy family, and bob had business, he was running his own business and doing well and

this happened and our whole world fell apart. we now miss him at every occasion since he disappeared, there have been numerous graduations, two daughters have gotten married, we have a new grandson who was born just a month ago, another grandson will be born in february. we have a granddaughter who is going to be 5 years old in december, and bob knows nothing about any of these children. it's extremely difficult for our family, because this is something that can be resolved. >> yes. >> the people who have bob need to send him home to his family. six and a half years is far too long. >> and this man, your husband, did work in the fbi, but this wasn't an fbi caper gone wrong. this was a business trip just to make that clear, is that correct, dan? >> correct. bob retired from the fbi in 1998. >> all right, thank you both. i'm sorry to have to meet you this way and have this discussion especially so close

to the holidays but you have to keep hope alive for this. we'll keep this story and discussion especially while negotiations are ongoing and they're trying to establish trust between the countries, certainly this should be on the agenda. let us know how we can help keep this story going. >> thank you. >> thanks for keeping the word out. >> we really appreciate this. >> to the rest of your family and you a happy thanksgiving. >> same to you. >> kate? >> all right, chris. coming up next on "new day" a severe weather playbook, how do major aurlz handle a massive storm on a huge holiday travel day? we'll take you live inside the operations center of united airlines. and then black friday, the retail stampede, where everyone looks for bargains, it's right around the corner but buyer beware. some retailers have things up their sleeves to possibly fool you into thinking you're saving big. we have what you need to know.

we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is.

welcome back to "new day," everyone. nasty winter storm moving across the country, creating chaos for holiday travelers. snow and ice and much more making treacherous road conditions. flights are being canceled or delayed at major northeast airports with ripple effects felt across the country. passengers face the very real possibility of being stranded on thanksgiving day. we hope we are wrong on this. we promise you we hope we are wrong on this one. cnn is covering this like in other network can. we begin with indra petersons in the snowy suburb of pittsburgh. >> reporter: kate this is exactly what we were worried about, this is the worst time of the entire storm, we're talking about the heaviest rain, the

heaviest snow falling down and the strongest winds, as we get throughout later today, things will start to taper off but right now, unfortunately, this is going to continue to affect millions of people trying to get out ahead of the holiday. the biggest travel day of the year and take a look at this, we're still talking about rain going all the way from the northeast, stretching back down even towards the carolinas, slowly exiting making its way farther to the north. the front side closer to the coastline talking about rain, you see the moisture coming out of the south. if you're on the back side of the storm system you're talking about snow just like we're seeing here in pittsburgh. lot to be talking about today. we've already seen a lot of snow already in many places, a lot of the places are cleaning up with the snow and ice already on the ground. lot of places in ohio, you saw anywhere from six to eight inches of snow already. if you are near the lakes you're seeing about a foot of snow possible in the forecast today. the totals will taper down the farther south you go, so maybe flurries out toward kentucky and tennessee. as we go forward in time things will tauper off so the hardest

and heaviest rain in the morning hours, as much as two to four inches of rain can be seen in the northeast today. we talked around the lakes maybe a foot of snow from the lake-effect snow. as you go through the afternoon things taper off. looks like it's getting better, the rain and snow goes away. unfortunately the things are the strong thing, staying here even as we go in through thanks giving. chris and kate? >> indra, thank you for that part of it. those same conditions will make for a scary drive for almost 39 million people who are expected to get behind the wheel for the obvious holiday trips to make. many major corridors are clogged with drivers between work and the vacation travel, and that includes interstate 95, which is outside new york city but really stretches down the east coast, that's why we asked pamela brown to be there, who was exhibiting a unhappy travel face before but now a little bit of a smile out there, what are you seeing on the roads? >> reporter: you got to keep a smile when you're traveling on a day like today, chris, because let me tell you something, this is not going to be a fun day for

a lot of travelers hitting the road. 39 million americans expected to hit the road, and the weather is expected to add insult to injury, not a good ingredient here. we've already learned there have been several accidents this morning. in fact, i-76 in philadelphia major highway there, the westbound side of that highway is closed. we've learned due to an accident, where one person was killed and there's only one lane open on the other side of the highway because of flooding there. we're here on 95 south, it's not too bad as you can see here, the traffic hasn't really picked up, the volume is pretty steady right now, but we are expecting the volume to pick up as the morning goes on, and as the morning goes on, the rain is expected to pick up, so we can definitely expect and anticipate some snags in the traffic here, so it's just important for people to remember to really exercise some patience as you head out today and try to head home to reunite with your families. back to you guys. >> that's right, pamela. thank you so much. so as the weather stifles

holiday travel for millions of people, airline carriers on some of the nation's major cities are forced to cope with delays and cancellations, and understandably fwrugrumpy passengers. ted rowlands in chicago to look at how one airline is monitoring and responding to this storm. ted? >> reporter: good morning, kate. this is an amazing place we're at right now, actually in the sears tower or the willis tower on the 27th floor, this is the united operations center where they are tracking literally every flight in the air right now around the world. you see the map there of the planes that are in the air right now. basically they do everything. they go from not only tracking normal day-to-day operations but any issues that come up that deal with employees, on this side of the room, that's most of the domestic planes, there are 1,300 people that work 4/7 and of course a day like today it's all hands on deck, they have their own weather area over here, this is steve lockman, basically the guy in charge,

network director steve, what is happening right now? obviously the eastern seaboard is the concern. >> biggest issue is new york. >> reporter: safe to say people will be able to get home for thanksgiving or are you worried about ripple effects in. >> we'll get everybody home today and we have extra passenger sections set up to carry them. >> reporter: kate, this is an amazing facility. again we're in the top of the sears tower in the middle of chicago, but they are doing everything. there's one on the side of the board here that says taxi monitor. that means there's a flight right now sitting out on the tarmac. when you think you're left without anybody watching you when you're on the tarmac, they're watching it, they're concerned and they're trying to get relief to the passengers. it's an amazing operation >> what great access. talk about going right to the nerve center of how they're going to be handling this. this is going to be a busy day for them in this operations center. how much of united worldwide fleet, a major airline, is controlled out of this one

operation center? >> reporter: everything, so every flight around the world they are tracking and the flight crews, where are they going to stay in a hotel, if there's lay it, deicing, should they be deiced pause of the time difference. you don't think about it when you're traveling but they have your back. every airlines has an operations center like this. this is the newest one and you nighted will brag it's the best one but every airline does this in some capacity. >> they can't control mother nature from the operations center but hope they can work magic to get everybody where they need to do g. thank you, ted, for bringing us that access. >> reporter: you bet. >> fascinating look inside. >> they got a lot of work to do today. hopefully they can do a super job and get people home like that man promised. let's get over to mick for the five things you need to know. rebel leaders in syria say they will not attend peace talks in geneva next year, the announcement comes hours after the syrian regime says it will

attend. the meetings are being held in an effort to end that nation's civil war. new tension with china after the u.s. flew two unarmed war planes over disputed islands in the east china sea, a direct challenge to the recent claims over control of the region's air space. the cdc approved a vaccination plan for princeton university after several students were diagnosed with meningitis b. they will make the vaccine available kees 9th. a week after the x was removed on the street where president kennedy was killed 50 years ago, the city does not who placed the mark on the road. happy thanksgivukkah, thanksgiving and hanukkah converge tonight. they will mark the start in washington the eight-day festival of lights. we update the five things to know, go to newdaycnn for the

latest. >> having hanukkah and thanksgiving at the same time, a blessing and a curse. this is a lot of early shopping for gifts, much earlier than people are ready for. >> have the holiday spirit. >> got it. >> done. >> coming up on "new day," great deals are available on black friday, right? well, that's what you've been told. we're going to tell you the real deal. and the real thanksgiving tradition, the annual presidential turkey pardon, find out why this year's pardon is being compared to "the hunger games." >> read and mcconnell, that's their names.

you really love, what would you do?" ♪ [ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect. what if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you? ♪ when you think about it, isn't that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love? ♪ you can fill that box and pay one flat rate. how naughty was he? oh boy... [ male announcer ] fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. the price you see is the price you pay? yep, best prices of the year. i can't see. honey. [ laughs ] brad. yeah? what are you doing?

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♪ ♪ put your hands in the air put your hands in the air, is this a shot or throw, an amazing half-court throw curing a contest at an oklahoma city thunder game, 23-year-old guy, cameron rodriguez, he makes the basket, that's amazing and

turned out to be a whole lot easier making the basket than keeping the $0,000 prize that he won, why, you ask, because he is a basketball player at southwestern college in kansas, playing at another school and rules say you can't get paid to play. >> he didn't get paid to play? what a thing >> they're asking to bend the rules because he is so awesome and let him use the money for scholarship or tuition. no decision on how they're going to go. what do you think? >> it falls under the cat fwoeg just because they have the right to do it doesn't mean it should be done. traveshemockery. >> good half court throw -- shot. >> it is a discussion that we would have offset and on set, for your delight. black friday, one of the buzzest shopping days of the year, buyer beware. you may not be saving as much as you'd think. here to tell us some tricks of

the trade, maybe pop some tags is cnn chief business correspondent christine romans. wait, is this all just marketing genius, has the wool been pulled over our eyes? >> four letters, h-y-p-e. >> really? >> all year long they engineer and strategize to get to you reach into your pocket to pull the money out and give it to them and the sale prices, these sale prices are agreed upon way in advance to make sure that you feel like you're getting a deal, and the retailer feels like they're getting a profit. in fak, is getting a profit, right? here is a couple things to remember. watch out for this, stumz they raise the price and cut them. sometimes there's only a dfew doorbusters so people go in and end up buying something else. the sale price isn't always a sale price. an example in "the wall street journal," mabimagine a sweater t the retailer bought for $14.50 from the supplier. retail for 50 bucks. the average sail price, no one really buys it at 50 bucks.

they mark it to 28, 21, there's a $13.50 markup. the retailer gets $13.50, you get a sale price, a sale sweater that was never worth $50 ander is happy. >> you are forcing me into this position, christine. >> are you going to defend? >> you are forcing me because of this famed umbrage you have. why is this news to you, incensed they're marking up an item before they mark up an item before they sell it? captain capitalist, what happened to you? >> i think that a lot of people rush out to get the deals and they think they are getting deals but there are going to be better deals in a couple week s especially on apparel and seasonal items. there might be good tech deals but i don't know how big the numbers are going to be. >> help people win. is there a way to beat the retailer on this? >> 56% of people are not going to shop at all this weekend. they're not shopping at all. more than half of people are not going to shop and why? because about a third of those

people think that this is all hype. this is all a retail manufactured -- >> they analyze what they need and want and don't run out and buy. >> don't want to stand in line and don't want to mess their hair up in the rain. >> i just don't want to be around other people. before we let you go, give them your one piece of advice? >> don't say pack patience. >> that was last hour. if you can't pay it off by january it's not a deal because then you're paying interest, paying late fees and hurting your credit score. don't let a retailer convince you because of advertising and because of craft mentality you need something you don't. the most important thing is putting money away, planning for college and working on your own personal finances, not buying something you don't need. >> all right. >> lecture of the day. lecture of the day. christine romans. >> bah-humbug. we go from that to a mushing moment, prince william living on the edge. ♪ you got to hold on to what we've got ♪ ♪ it doesn't make a difference

if we make it or not ♪ ♪ we've got each other and that's a lot for love ♪ >> what are we going to do? ♪ we'll give it a shot ♪ whoa we're half way there ♪ oh, livin' on a prayer ♪ >> she got it. >> that was actually me. >> i have a lighter. >> are you shazaming it? >> the prince was at a gala at kensington palace, bob jovi there invites the prince and taylor swift up to sing with him. i think it was one of the moments. >> you can have this at the concert, folks. not a problem. you can't get close enough. >> it's actually a lighter. >> just rockin' on. >> very cool. >> we sang on national television. >> i didn't actually hear the prince. >> i want to isolate his mike and know if he can carry a tune. >> what a fun moment, and fun moment for us here on "new day." >> that was very cool.

>> thank you. bon jovi always cool. coming up on "new day," we have the inspiring way that gap responded to a defaced ad, you'll want to see it >> absolutely and it's a battle of the bulge at the annual white house turkey pardon. >> reid and mcconnell. >> what do you think, chris and michaela? after i'm naming you after a turkey that's pardoned! [ laughter ] smoke? nah, i'm good. [ male announcer ] celebrate every win with nicoderm cq, the unique patch with time release smartcontrol technology that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. help prevent your cravings with nicoderm cq.

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welcome back to "new day." you might have seep this gap ad, part of their national make love holiday campaign featuring a diverse group of cultural icons dressed in the gap clothing. this one features sikh actor juarez alualia. someone tweeted an ad defaced in

an unknown subway and if i actually show you right here instead of saying make love it says make bombs and some idiot scribbled "please stop driving taxis." let that settle for a second. this is what happened in response, somebody saw this and tweeted, hi there, thanks for imforming us. this is the gap responding to the person that tweeted. thanks for imforming us of this, can you follow and direct message us. we'd like to know the location of this. not only did gap respond they took it one step further. they took the original fwgap ad and made it their twitter picture in a show of holiday support. we've been hearing members of the sikh community started a thank you fwap for the appreciation of a sikh model, it is raising the profile of their community in an impactful way. we had to share that story with you, guys? >> talk about the power of social media, good to see gap

respond that way. thank you so much >> that was good. thanks for that. all right, so the annual turkey pardon taking place. before we talk about it we have to go to the couch. >> the couch. that's my opinion. that's mine. that's mine. that's mine. >> come on, kyle. that's mine, kyle. >> revenge is best served with 27 hor2 horses. lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month with premium care maintenance included. >> now to democracy at work, everyone, for the second year, voters got to choose the national thanksgiving turkey, and today the president will pardon both contenders, caramel or popcorn, caramel and popcorn, at the white house, only one lucky bird can win the title but don't worry, neither will be

dinner. they're like the only two who won't be. here's cnn's jeanne moos with one. >> reporter: what did one clumsy turkey say to the other at the washington photo opportunity? pardon me. there they were in the ballroom of the work willard hotel amid dangling chandeliers, their snewds dangled as the press tried to get them to talk. it's caramel versus popcorn. the white house is running a contest asking people to vote on which should be the national thanksgiving turkey. some are comparing it to "the hunger games." >> there's 24 of us, gale, only one comes out. >> reporter: both come out alive though only one gets the presidential pardon publicly. >> you are hereby pardoned. >> reporter: the other is an alternate. our money is on popcorn, plumper, with a more robust gobble. caramel and popcorn join

otherily lust ruse tu woe. >> pumpkin and pecan. biscuits, gravy. >> cobbler and gobbler. >> flier and fryer. >> reporter: caramel and popcorn come from a minnesota farm where 20 finalists were trained in this cottage. john burkle practiced lifting them on to this table so they wouldn't do this when their big day came but popcorn and caramel seem more relaxed than their human owners. the kids taught the photographers to whistle and trill to get the turkeys to gobble. >> i think you know how to speak turkey. >> reporter: the turkeys made the 1,500-mile drive to washington in 27 hours. they've already outlived most of their compatriots. >> i've never raised them past 1 weeks because we eat them. >> reporter: occasionally a pardoned bird gets pellish, expresses am buff lens. >> thanks to the interventions of malia and sasha because i was planning to eat this sucker. >> reporter: and then there was the turkey that didn't get

pardoned, the one that met his demise behind sarah palin's back. it happened as she was giving an interview at a turkey farm shortly after she and john mccain were defeated, we'll spare you the gruesome part. >> oh, well this was neat. >> reporter: the people will decide whether popcorn or caramel get the glory this year, at least this government website is working. it's no turkey. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> i tell you, i feel a little dimple now that i saw that process unfolding. >> the video of sarah palin. >> has nothing to do with the former vice presidential nominee but the way that they -- don't you think the turkey should be named reid and mcconnell, give them what we're dealing with in d.c., isn't that a into-brano-b? >> no, salt, pepper. >> what does it have to do with turkey. >> i'm sticking with one i know everyone agrees with and is the winner, chris and michaela.

>> chris cuomo and john berman. >> calling us turkeys. >> i'm calling you pardoned turk yus. >> pardoned turkeys, that makes it better. >> we should say thank you to the elegant correspondent who did that story ms. jeanne -- >> moos. i botched the name and now you're pointing it out. >> no, no, i loo you can ike my. coming up a little girl found her christmas gift and when she found it, she did something that defines nice, makes her the good stuff, strugt straight ahead, something to be thankful for. gonna make our turkey fly ♪ ♪ that's my kind of holiday. so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool.

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♪ that's my kind of holiday. ♪ this has got to be the good life ♪ high on the list of things to be thankful for, 10-year-old fourth grauder, naughty, snooping around the house, finds mom's big christmas present not the one from santa but finds it. imagine, talk a look. >> i walked in the closet on an accident. >> i was pretty upset when she first ruined her bug surprise. >> she's a thief, a felon but we'll let it go. here's why. it was no ordinary gift, a limited edition american girl doll, rare and expensive key word, why? jordan noticed the bins and donations collecting troops in

afghanistan nearly empty. >> why aren't people donating it is a school project. usually we get more stuff out there they don't have chocolate, they don't have hamburgers and really missing all the stuff we usually get every day. >> iurgers in the box but the sentiment was great. fourth grader offers up her precious christmas gift, the toll for a raffle. >> she did not. >> gets attention, before the raffle happens, raised $1,000. lot of that from people who didn't want the doll, just wanted to help. the grand total more than $10,000 raised by this fourth grauder. >> get out of here! >> yes. no word on what jordan will get for christmas but santa's got to like this, especially after the original theft. she did something very great and that's why this is the good stuff. >> jordan, we are telling santa, do not worry, santa gets cnn we're making sure he knows. >> thank you for showing kids everywhere what a real gift is

about, the gift of generosity in your heart. thank you for that. >> and to everyone, lots to be thankful fwor this yeor this ye. >> i'm thankful for you and you. >> on most days. >> and for you. time to get to you carol costello, happy thanksgiving to you. >> i was getting a lull nauseated there. >> carol! >> no, it's nice to see the love. >> the ghost of christmas future. >> and santa's watching, too. thanks to all of you, have a great day and great thanksgiving. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now in "the newsroom," norester nightmare. >> at the end of the day, no one can control mother nature. >> reporter: welcome to the busiest travel day of the year. >> i get on the highway, next thing i know i'm spinning is. >> there's a point there's nothing you can